Apple revealed this morning that it sold 1.7 million of its new iPhone 4 in its first three days on the market.

The Cupertino company would have sold even more, but didn’t have enough phones to keep up with consumer demand.

“This is the most successful product launch in Apple’s history,” Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in a statement. “Even so, we apologize to those customers who were turned away because we did not have enough supply.”

Apple began selling the iPhone 4 at its retail stores Thursday after taking early orders starting June 15.

At Apple’s online store this morning, black models of the iPhone 4 were listed as available for shipment in three weeks. Last week, Apple acknowledged that manufacturing problems have delayed release of white models of the phone until late next month.

In addition to evacuating 10 neighboring homes, deputies restricted pedestrian and vehicle traffic in the area while the sheriff's office bomb squad "safely disposed" of the explosives, officials said.